The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-04-23
SPECIAL METHODS OF SPIRITUAL
AWAKENING.
BY Rev. A. n. LAING.
Joliet, AllJ

The following paper vas read at the Pas
tors Institute on Saturday, April 16:
This topic in the pregram of our Pas.
tors Institute may be- accepted as rec
ognition Of the fact t3at under the exist
ing conditions of our church and of the
world Especial methof of spiritual awak-
ening" are needed. A Ia rule our church
es have not sought I'd Aevelop spirituality
by special means; and Rhere this rule has
been departed from & effort has usually
been an experiment. her than policy;
hence these special Axertions have not
been formulated into methods. However
much OF earnestness q I'd faithfulness may
have characterized tim, they have usu.
ally lacked even the appearance of sys-
tenn and order. Butt am to speak of
especial methods" ariH not of such un-
usual exertions as may have been put
forth in the absence a method.
My topic also implies that the usual or
general methods of stiritual growth are
properly understood and employed in our.
church. If the assun4ption we're true my
task would be simplssand easy. But in
my opinion it is not trae. l believe that
our greatest need issa denominational
policy. Hence, beforeI can say anything
of special methods I must at least indi-
cate what I believe I'd be indispensable
in the matter of gener{M methods. First
of all we must empha&ze the fact that it
is the duty of our cht&phes to settle pas
tors and not hire preachers" The dis
tinction is in the highest degree impor-
tant. OF course the pastor should be
preacher; but he muetzDe something more
than this. He must tAnd not only for
an idea, but for noral movement,
spiritual growth and i aredeeming life in
his community. Bat*the church which
"hires preacher tu6 ely does so under
contract which lasl only for twelve
month; and if, at tba end Of that time,
the agreement is IA bed tits something
more than either So u II had reason to
expect when it was originally made. The
pastoral relation looks to permanence;
but those preachers who are hired by the
year, wherever they may be, can truly
say, in the language of the apostle, "Here
we have no continuing city" And the
man who moves SO frequently affords the
Especial methods of spiritual awakening"
no fair chance to overtake him. When
we make our denominational policy what
it should be in this respect the ministerial
office will be elevated and rendered more
Independent, and the fruits of our work
will be many fold greater than they now
are.
In the second place, we must hold our
ministers to the rule that the pastor must
SO identify himself with his church that
its moral Improvement and spiritual
growth shall constitute the chief, if not
the sole test of his success. We ought
to be able to say, as we point to those
who stand with us in the Masters work,
these "are our epistles, written in our
hearts, known and read of all men," and
judged not by their number, but by their
legibility and by the character of the
message which their lives convey to the
world. And finally, we must get rid of
the idea on the part of both pastors and
churches, that it is the peculiar provi-
dence of our denomination to SOW the
seed, while others "reap and gather into
barns." Our ideas have tempered and
sweetened the spirit of Christendom; but
much of their good has been lost to the
world because they have been unequally
yoked with principles which antagonize
them. The world has gained from us a
new sense of freedom; but it has gained
it without that sense OF responsibility
which ought to go with it. And there is
peril in the liberty which is blind to
moral obligations. It should be our aim
to cultivate our own field and gather our
own harvest. And to do this we must
rally our people under our own banner,
and bind them together in the bonds of
Christian fellowship. An idea gains lit
tie strength or credit, however much it
may grow, unless those institutions with
which it is identified grow with it. Our
special methods must, therefore, follow a
systematic, persistent effort to educate
our people to do something for the moral
aud spiritual as well as material support
of those enterprises and institutions which
in the thought of the world represent
our cause. Having adopted denomina-
tional policy, such as have indicated, we
shall be ready for the introduction of
special methods of spiritual awakening"
And to my mind this is but another name
for revival methods. Is there any good
reason why our church should not employ
them? Can it be that these means which
have contributed SO largely to the success
of other churches have no appropriate
place in the work of our church? Every
Christian organization should have its
pentecostal days, when the spirit Of wor-
ship and Of service shall come as a rushing
mighty wind, and cloven tongues of flame
shall flash from its affairs and envelop the
souls of the people. But if We would
! have them We must learn to work and